The Missing Spy

by J A Heaton

  Jamol gave a pained look, as if good news mixing with the grief from Zuhro’s death could only bring more pain.

  “I don’t think they want to see us,” Rex said to Daniel. “Maybe this was a mistake, and we need to head back.”

  But Daniel pressed the conversation. “I can assure you that if you faced any hardship because of our previous conversation, that trouble has passed. What I have to tell you is only good news.”

  After looking him up and down, Jamol opened the door a bit further and invited Daniel and Rex in.

  Daniel and Rex sat down on the floor mat, and Daniel exchanged greetings again. Daniel watched as their son, who was about twelve years old, served them tea.

  “Somebody did visit us after we talked with you,” Jamol said calmly. “Ziyo scared him off.”

  “Ziyo?” Daniel asked.

  “Our dog,” Jamol explained. “The man left, but we feared he would return with more men.”

  “And… he hasn’t?”

  “Thankfully, no,” Jamol said. “But they still may.”

  “The matter involving Dmitri and Zuhro has been resolved,” Daniel explained. “You shouldn’t be bothered anymore. As I said, we do have good news for you.”

  “What?” Jamol asked.

  “There’s lots to explain,” Daniel said with a look to Fatima, who had joined them for tea. She still wore black to mourn her sister’s death. “Zuhro had a challenging life, but I want you to know more about the truth concerning your sister.”

  Daniel patiently told Fatima and Jamol Zuhro’s story as best as he understood it: that she had been with the GRU, and that her behavior may not have been what Fatima would have expected from her sister.

  “How do you know she was with the GRU?” Fatima asked.

  “I spoke with her first husband, Shahriyor,” Daniel said. “He also was with the GRU.”

  “Did Dmitri take advantage of my sister?” Fatima asked.

  “Initially, I believe,” Daniel began, “the GRU, including her own husband, forced Zuhro to keep an eye on Dmitri. But I believe she ended up genuinely loving Dmitri. Dmitri did not go after her and take advantage of her. Dmitri genuinely loved her. They ended up loving each other, even if their relationship started for the wrong reasons.”

  “Why did you come so far to tell me all of this?” Fatima asked. Her husband looked at her with a concerned look.

  “You’re good people who deserve the truth,” Daniel said. “You haven’t known the truth about your sister and Dmitri for all these years, but you deserve to know it. Her relationship with Dmitri didn’t start or proceed because she was immoral. Initially, she had no choice.”

  “Is that all?” Fatima asked. Daniel knew that she was insightful. She knew that he had more to add to the story.

  Their son reentered the room, now with some warm bread in the traditional round shape, and placed it on the table. Daniel thanked him and watched him leave the room.

  Instead of taking the bread, Daniel leaned over and asked them quietly, “Does your son know that Dmitri is really his father?”

  Both the husband and the wife stared at Daniel in shock. Neither could say anything.

  “I found the boy’s birth certificate,” Daniel explained. “At first I didn’t know what it was. But after I figured it out, it didn’t make sense because I thought that all of Dmitri’s children died. The birth certificate itself did not seem like a large priority in the investigation. But included in the documentation was the boy’s legal name change. To your family name.”

  “Yes, it is true,” Jamol admitted, as if Daniel had uncovered a shameful secret.

  “Tell me if I’m wrong, but you couldn’t have children,” Daniel continued. “And when Zuhro was found pregnant with Dmitri’s son, she wouldn’t abort it. Instead, she followed your ancient custom of one fertile couple giving their baby to an infertile family member. And then you raised Zuhro’s child as your own son, and you were the only ones who knew about it.”

  Although they were silent, Daniel knew that he had hit on the truth.

  “I love him as my own son,” Jamol said. “I had even forgotten that he is not my biological son.” The words were heavy. “But this is just a sad reminder. What other news did you speak of?”

  “I found the birth certificate and legal name change hidden in Dmitri’s safe,” Daniel said. “But why would Dmitri want that information to be kept secure?”

  “I don’t know,” Jamol answered. “Nobody has ever questioned whether he was our son.”

  “It only made sense if Dmitri wanted to be able to prove that the identity of your son is, in fact, his son,” Daniel continued. “We’ve uncovered a coded message that Dmitri left behind.” Daniel was referring to the code Dmitri had inserted in The Communist Manifesto that Muhammad had cracked about a week earlier.

  “What sort of coded message did this KGB man leave behind?” Jamol asked cautiously.

  “It pointed us to legal documents, stored safely in Switzerland, that stipulated that his son, your son, should inherit his wealth upon his passing. And his wealth in the Swiss bank accounts is considerable.” Daniel had decided not to explain how the CIA had paid into Agent Bishop’s Swiss bank accounts for several years, and that the man had never touched a single penny.

  Jamol and Fatima sat in stunned silence.

  “I know it is in no way compensation for the loss of Zuhro, but Dmitri’s forethought will provide for you and your son more than you could have imagined. I’ve worked with the US Embassy to ensure that local lawyers properly handle the details for you.”

  Jamol and Fatima still silently.

  “My friend and I must leave now,” Daniel said as they remained speechless, “But I wanted you to know the truth. Zuhro was a victim, forced onto Dmitri, but then they did find true love with each other. And when you tell the boy the truth about his biological father, he should know that his father, Dmitri, was a brave hero who fought for freedom without regard for personal gain. He eventually died for it, but not before providing for his son’s—your son’s—future. But that is all I can tell you about Dmitri’s heroics.”

  Jamol managed weak words of thanks in response.

  Daniel asked the father to say the traditional prayer before guests leave, which he only did reluctantly.

  “Will you not stay at least one night?” Fatima asked. “It is a long journey back, and you should stay until breakfast.”

  “I’m sorry,” Daniel said, “but we must attend a wedding in Tashkent tonight.”

  “Ask them where their dog is,” Rex whispered to Daniel as they got up to leave.

  Daniel asked about the large dog, and when Jamol answered, he said, “Ziyo got out and killed a neighbor’s chicken, so we sent him to a relative in the countryside until the neighbor calms down.”

  Daniel translated for Rex, who said, “We had a rough introduction, but I kinda liked that big ol’ dog.”

  As Daniel and Rex left, Jamol and Fatima urged them to return again.

  I just might come back, someday, Daniel thought to himself. I have friends in Central Asia again.

  Later that night, Daniel and Rex could hear the music’s bass from several blocks away.

  “You know,” Rex said to Daniel, “that I only get in trouble whenever I encounter Nigora?”

  “We’ve got to see her one last time,” Daniel said.

  “What the hell for?” Rex asked. “And why do you think she’ll be at the wedding?”

  “If she’s the new head of the Russia mafia with a renewed ‘understanding’ with President Karimov, then she’ll be there. More importantly for me, I owe it to her father and brother to give her another chance out. It was her father’s dying wish.”

  “Fine,” Rex said. “I guess I can finally attend one of these supposedly epic Uzbek weddings.”

  When Daniel and Rex entered the wedding reception hall - there was even a second-floor balcony overlooking the entertainment - the spotlight was on a boy breakdancing to throbbing, lou
d music. Rex gave Daniel a grin of approval. The tables were filled with wedding attendees clapping along with the beat and then roaring in applause when the song finished.

  The spotlight switched to a speaker near the wedding party at the front. The groom, who shared Jahongir’s long nose, smiled broadly. The bride, however, only looked down with a sullen face, despite the festivities around her. Daniel spotted Jahongir’s father sitting near the front. They exchanged a nod, and Jahongir whispered something to a man nearby.

  Moments later, the man approached Daniel and Rex and asked them to follow him. Daniel and Rex followed through the smoke-filled hall, past the wedding party seated at the front, and through several large doors to another, more intimate, ballroom. This one was dimly lit, and Daniel knew Jahongir had planned it for special guests to attend to special business, whatever that might be. Some could be finalizing a business deal, others bribing an official for a piece of paperwork, and still others trading their youngest daughter in marriage for a political favor.

  There were two women in the room. One was the head of the Russian mafia in Uzbekistan. The other sat by her side, dressed in a red cocktail dress with matching high-heels and lipstick.

  Daniel and Rex sat at the same table as Nigora. As if on cue, the other three men at the table got up and left. Two others, probably Nigora’s bodyguards, moved closer to the table. Though Daniel had initially known Nigora as a village girl with long black hair, she now wore her hair up in an elegant do and a zamonaviy dress made of shimmering, silver fabric. Daniel wondered if she had intentionally worn a dress made from the same cloth he had offered her as a gift months ago when he still hoped she would go to America with him. But she had refused the gift.

  Not that long ago, Daniel knew that he would have felt the sting of bitterness at seeing her, but he didn’t feel it now. He had business to conduct with Nigora. Besides, even though Tina was still recovering, she would pull through.

  Tina already killed three men trying to rescue me, Daniel thought to himself.

  “Shouldn’t you be mourning your late husband?” Daniel asked.

  “Business doesn’t stop for the dead,” she said nonchalantly.

  “I want to start by thanking you for telling us about Billy,” Daniel said. It was hard for him to say it, but it was necessary. “Without your help, we never would have made the break in the case.”

  “Consider yourselves indebted to me,” Nigora said.

  “You said you were upset about how they used your women,” Daniel continued, with a look to the blond woman seated next to Nigora. “Is that no longer a problem now that you’ve taken over your husband’s business?”

  “It is no longer a problem,” Nigora confirmed.

  “You can have a better life than his,” Daniel said. “Your husband wasn’t planning on dying last night. You can fall victim to the same type of treachery.”

  “Is that a threat?” Nigora said playfully.

  “This isn’t a game,” Daniel said. “You still have the chance to leave with me. You already helped us get Billy. You still know a lot more that can help America. Come with me. You can help us, and you can have protection. You won’t have to live in fear of the next rising star among the Russian thugs. Your father and brother are dead. You don’t have family here. You can make a fresh start, a new and peaceful life.”

  “Don’t think you are doing me any favors with such an offer,” Nigora said. “Yes, I lost my husband, but I have a way of outgrowing them. Right now, I am so powerful that nobody would dare to touch me.”

  “That’s what your husband thought,” Daniel said. “That is, until you and that other Russian sold him out. Whoever was above your husband and is now above you will someday do the same to you.”

  Nigora smirked and said, “I was the one who stole the nuke in Afghanistan, and I was the one who took down Isaac and gave you the break you needed here. How about you let me know the next time you need my help? I have not needed yours.”

  “Then help me with this,” Daniel said. “Am I right in saying that your master was at the mansion in the mountains? He escaped in the helicopter. It was all part of the plan that you would betray the man named Pavel and his men to Jahongir, you would kill Isaac, and then that would leave you to run the business in Uzbekistan.”

  “Not bad,” Nigora said coolly. The woman in red released a sigh, but Daniel wasn’t done.

  “Do you really think your master wanted you to replace Isaac because you are better? He had to get rid of Isaac, Pavel, and the others because they knew the identity of his most powerful spy. He replaced them with you to protect his most important asset. He’s not reluctant to dispose of even the best servants if it suits his larger plan. Everything that has happened has been to protect his spy.”

  “That sounds like an intriguing plan,” Nigora said.

  “But it didn’t work,” Daniel said. “I caught his spy. He got rid of all those men for nothing. He made a big sacrifice, and it didn’t pay off.”

  For the first time, Daniel thought he saw Nigora considering what he was saying.

  “Come with Rex and me to America now. We can keep you safe. You only have your position because your master had to sacrifice those above you. But because that sacrifice didn’t work, I think you are in a very tenuous position.”

  After a pause, Nigora continued her cool act.

  “Like I said, you’re the one who has needed my help. I haven’t needed yours. So, I think I’ll decline your generous offer once again.”

  “Then help me one last time,” Daniel said. “Who is the man who is pulling all the strings?”

  Nigora smirked.

  “The CIA must really be desperate,” she said. “Everybody knows the name Misha.”

  Daniel nodded as if to say, “Of course,” and rose from the table. He took a step to leave, but then turned back to Nigora and said, “Tell your agent that, next time she visits the sauna, she must be sure to enter the women’s sauna. Doing otherwise can be dangerous.”

  Daniel didn’t wait to see the reaction. He left with Rex behind him. They re-entered the main wedding hall, complete with pulsating music and a pop singer belting out her high notes. Daniel offered his best wishes to Jahongir and his son, and then he stepped out into the cool night.

  As he called for a ride, Daniel told Rex, “The Wolf’s master goes by Misha.”

  “I have a feeling we will be hunting for him next,” Rex said.

  22

  Washington D.C.

  Saturday, September 27, 2002.

  Two days later.

  “Well, you nearly set off a major international incident with Russia that could have started yet another war for the United States to fight. But in the end, you caught the legendary Wolf,” Officer Carter chided Daniel in her office. For once, Daniel didn’t mind sitting in an office opposite his superior. He even looked forward to translating and analyzing in his cubicle for a little bit.

  “Actually, we all caught the Wolf,” Daniel said with a look to Jenny, Rex, and Muhammad. “And Tina, too, of course. I happened to be there when he slipped up, but all of you were vital to his capture. Any idea how much he’s going to be willing to talk once he’s medically cleared?”

  “You hit him with the rock pretty hard,” Officer Carter said. “Perhaps too hard.”

  “Thanks to the training he received from me,” Rex joked.

  “I had to make sure he was out cold,” Daniel said defensively. “Sheesh.”

  “Even if he doesn’t talk,” Jenny added, “you won’t believe what I’ve dug up within the last day.” For the first time, Daniel noticed the brown grocery sack next to Jenny’s chair. He hoped she didn’t have cupcakes in it for the team.

  “What’s that?” Daniel asked.

  “Well, I got to thinking,” Jenny began to explain. “I knew I couldn’t look through every interview the CIA did with people trying to defect or seeking asylum back in the ‘90s, so—by the way, did you all know that Milli Vanilli was popular way b
ack when the Berlin Wall fell until—”

  “Get to the point,” Officer Carter cut in.

  “Right. So I made some guesses and only looked at those interviewed by CIA personnel already in the mix. I tried to eliminate the easy ones first. Like Edwards.”

  “Did you find all the evidence necessary to get Edwards without me having to risk my life?” Daniel asked incredulously.

  “Sort of, but Edwards could have gotten away,” Jenny said. “It turns out that Edwards did some interviews of former Soviets in the ‘90s, but there was one that he pursued. He signed himself up for it, even though most of the guys hated doing that kind of mind-numbing task. But, it gets even better.” Jenny’s eyes shone like a child who had just received a pony for her birthday.

  “We’re all on the edges of our seats,” Rex said.

  “The man Edwards pursued was killed in a hit-and-run, not much later. It looked so suspicious that the police pursued it until the suspect left the country. We’re still hoping to extradite him from Venezuela, all these years later.”

  “Edwards at least suspected something about this man, interviewed him, probably left stuff out of his report, and then alerted his KGB contacts to eliminate the threat?” Daniel wondered out loud.

  “Exactly,” Jenny said. “And it gets better. The police still had the man’s belongings in evidence from the car crash. Including the coat he was wearing.”

  Jenny grabbed the brown paper sack and put it on her lap.

  “No way!” Muhammad nearly yelled, unable to control himself.

  “I totally had to invoke national security to get this out of evidence,” Jenny said. Now she looked to Daniel like a child who had received a unicorn for her birthday.

  “Michael Devers remembered that Dmitri had freed Vasyli and gave him his coat to keep warm when he left,” Daniel recalled.

  “Yup again,” Jenny agreed. Then she stood up and, after pausing dramatically, pulled from the sack a wool jacket that looked as though it had faced many winters. She placed it on Officer Carter’s desk and told the group, “See if you can find the key clue.”